


Milkshake (We all know what's going on)

by greenet



Category: Archie Comics
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual!Jughead, Could probably be mushier but not sure how, First Dates, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5643397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenet/pseuds/greenet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin isn't sure, but he thinks Jughead might be hitting on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Milkshake (We all know what's going on)

**Author's Note:**

> Brought about pretty much solely by the diner scene in reboot Jughead #2. 
> 
> Many thanks to Littlerhymes, who went above and beyond on encouragement during the process of writing it, and also betaed, and to Tieleen, who got me unstuck on the date.

The plan to get Betty and Archie back together (in order to restore order and hope in the common people, i.e. Kevin, Sheila and Maria) was proceeding as planned, but Kevin had one concern. It wasn’t that he thought it was a particularly likely scenario, but it was best to cover all bases. After all, they _were_ relying on Jughead’s sneaky planning skills. 

Jughead gave him a quizzical look over his hamburger which probably meant he’d been silent too long. Kevin took a deep breath. “Are you in love with Archie? I mean, I’m not judging you or anything if you are! I just—“

“No,” Jughead said flatly, placing his hamburger down on his plate. He raised his eyebrows at Kevin. “No, I’m definitely not in love with Archie Andrews. I’m pretty sure about that. Why are you even asking me that question?” 

“Good,” Kevin said. “I mean. Because there’s a plan. And that plan would definitely fail if you were secretly working against said plan.” 

There was a brief — and very tense — pause as Jughead ate the last of his hamburger. Which Kevin had paid for. Again. He really needed to stop doing that. 

“Oh no, I’m completely onboard with this plan,” Jughead said calmly. “Incidentally have I told you how very handsome and attractive you are today?”

Kevin sighed. “Twice. And while I could stand listening to you tell me about my amazingly good looks some more, I’m actually kind of broke.” 

“What IS this economy coming too?” Jughead said rhetorically. He leaned back in his seat and was subtly scoping out the entrance, probably looking for more people he could scam burgers from. How Jughead wasn’t circular was a genuine mystery to Kevin. 

“I know, it’s an outrage,” Kevin agreed. 

“So I’m sure you’ll understand when I abandon you in my epic quest for sustenance,” Jughead said. He slid out of the booth, pausing for Kevin’s reply. 

Kevin waved a goodbye. “Yeah, yeah. You’re a bottomless pit, I know. Remember the plan though!”

Jughead shrugged, which could mean anything, but Kevin chose to take it as both acknowledgement and promise. He bent down to pull his history book out of his bag and was startled to see Jughead still standing there when he looked up. “…What?”

“You do look quite handsome today,” Jughead said. “Thought you should know.” And then he did shuffle off.

Kevin blinked after him. “Thank you?” What?

* 

Betty gave him a blank look when he cornered her the next day during lunch break. “Jughead likes you fine.”

“Are you sure? Because I think he’s started some kind of psychic warfare against me, and my incredible handsomeness —“ he ignored Betty’s raised eyebrow, “— can’t protect me from Jughead’s mind games! He’s too good at them! He’s a Machiavellian mastermind!”

“Now you’re exaggerating,” Betty said. “He’s just lazy. And hungry. He can be quite sweet, really, when you get to know him.”

“Well, yeah, to you! He likes you!”

Betty rolled her eyes. “Why do you care, anyway? He’s always been like this. You’ve never cared before.”

“I…” Kevin trailed off. “Um.”

Betty waited. 

“I just don’t want him to work against our plan,” Kevin said weakly. Betty might believe she was part of a different plan entirely, the break up Veronica and Archie for the good of humanity in general plan, but Kevin had faith that the end goal would be the same. He was glad that Betty had never paid any attention to high school drama otherwise she might have questioned that statement.

* 

Sheila, on the other hand, did pay attention to high school drama, and gasped. “Oh my god! You like Jughead Jones! You _like_ him, like him. Holy crap.”

Kevin facepalmed. “No, I don’t! It’s just that—“

Sheila completely ignored him. “But wait, is Jughead gay? Is he straight? Is he some weird food-sexual? Because that’s honestly what my bet is on, sorry, Kevin.”

Sheila was one of his best friends, but sometimes she was really not helpful at all.

* 

“Hey,” Jughead said, joining him at the counter. He raised his hand to catch Pop’s attention, while giving Kevin an expectant look. Kevin sighed and dug out his wallet. Jughead looked pleased. 

“This is not actually a part of the plan, you know that, right?” Kevin had to check. You never knew with Jughead. It was entirely possible that Kevin had accidentally promised he’d buy Jughead milkshakes and burgers for the foreseeable future. 

Jughead shrugged, which wasn’t reassuring at all.

“…Right?”

“You want my help, and I want milkshakes. Seems fair to me,” Jughead said. “Also, that shirt really brings out the blue in your eyes.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kevin was a very careful dresser, unlike Jughead who possibly got dressed in the dark and used his floor as a wardrobe. “But thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Jughead smiled at his milkshake. 

*

“Well,” Dilton said, pushing his glasses up as he thought. “There’s at least an 80% chance that he’s messing with you. I might go as high as 85%.”

Kevin sighed. “Yeah, I figured.”

“I have insufficient data though,” Dilton added. “Nobody knows what Jughead is into. Well, Archie might, I suppose.”

If anybody knew it would be Archie. Kevin had deliberately not gone to him yet. Jughead was making him both nervous and a little paranoid, but if Kevin was to be entirely, completely honest… he liked thinking that maybe Jughead really did like him. 

The way he’d grown up — all over the world — had been amazing, but not particularly stable. He’d never really had the chance to have a crush like this before. He’d never had friends like this before either. He’d had friends and teammates, of course, because he was a friendly guy, but not this kind of large group of friends who all knew each other and liked each other. He’d never actually had a boyfriend. He’d gone on a couple of dates, and had a couple of disastrous almost-dates, but there had never been anybody he liked enough to think “yeah, I’d want him to be my boyfriend”. 

Not even Trev Smith. Why Jughead was different, Kevin wasn’t entirely sure. He did know that whenever Jughead paid him a compliment his stomach got all warm and fluttery. 

It was just a harmless fantasy. Archie, though, would probably smash right through that fantasy, and Kevin wasn’t ready for that yet. 

“Oh, yeah, uh, I’ll go talk to him for sure,” Kevin lied.

* 

“But _Jughead_ though,” Sheila said. “I mean, I don’t get it? But if you need my help, I’m here for you.”

Kevin had reached the ‘lie on bed and stare at ceiling’ part of the day and didn’t answer. He sighed instead. 

Sheila patted his ankle. “By the way, does this mean I can sigh longingly after Trev Smith in the hallways now?”

“I guess,” Kevin said. That was definitely never going to happen, and Kevin knew that and hadn’t actually minded it so much. Besides most of the school had probably had a crush on Trev at one point or another. It was like a rite of passage at Riverdale High. 

“Oh,” Sheila said, disappointed. “I won’t then.”

“No, I mean, it’s fine,” Kevin assured her. “I don’t mind.” 

“Really?”

“Definitely. You should go for it.”

“I don’t know about going for it, but I can do longing sighs,” Sheila grinned. “Work my way up to it.”

* 

“Sorry, I don’t get paid until Friday,” Kevin said. 

Jughead paused, but he still sat down next to Kevin by the counter. “Nobody’s perfect, although you do come close. Your hair is particularly nice today,” he added after flagging Pop down and placing an order for a milkshake and pie. 

“You know this is the only diner in town, right?” Kevin asked. “You can’t dine and dash, you’d be banned for life.”

Jughead gave him a faintly amused look. “Why must you doubt me? It’s hurtful, it really is.” 

Kevin narrowed his eyes at him. 

Jughead rolled his eyes. “If you must know I found a twenty on the street behind the laundromat.” He held it up as proof and Pop snapped it out of his hand immediately. “Hey!”

“I know you, Jughead Jones,” Pop said, as he handed the change back to him. “You’d weasel your way out of paying somehow.” 

“Distrust and suspicion everywhere I go,” Jughead grumbled. “What did I ever do to deserve this?”

“I have a list,” Reggie said, helpfully, leaning over to smile brightly. “If you want to know. In great detail.”

* 

Kevin wasn’t even surprised to find Archie tangled in skipping ropes in the gym. It wasn’t something that would happen to anybody else, ever, but to Archie? Absolutely. 

“Thanks!” Archie said, once he’d been untangled. 

“You’re welcome.” He paused. 

“Did you want something?” 

“I was just. I was wondering about Jughead?”

“…What did he do? Because I rarely have a clue what he’s up to until it’s too late,” Archie said. He didn’t look particularly concerned about it. 

“It’s nothing he’s done — well, I think he did something to Mrs. Scales in chemistry but that’s unrelated. I was just wondering if you — “ Kevin still couldn’t figure out a good way to phrase it. “I think he’s been hitting on me? But I’m not sure?”

Archie blinked. “Wouldn’t it be better to ask him that?”

“Yeah but what if he’s not?”

Archie blinked again and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. “Um. Honestly? He could be. But maybe not? He hasn’t said anything.”

“About liking guys or about liking me?”

“Um. Both?” Archie hesitated slightly before answering. “Look, talk to him about it, okay? I don’t even pretend to know what he’s thinking.”

Kevin nodded. “Okay. Don’t tell him I asked you?”

“Sure. I won’t say anything.” 

*

Jughead had acquired popcorn somehow and was watching the meltdown of the faculty lounge with detached amusement. 

“Do I want to know?” Kevin asked, joining him. 

Jughead gave him a thoughtful look. “Proooobably not. Popcorn?” He held the popcorn out slightly towards Kevin, enough to make it a genuine offer, not enough for Kevin to get ideas about grabbing the whole thing. 

“…Sure.” Kevin took a cautious handful. 

“I’m not apologizing,” Jughead said abruptly. 

Kevin blinked at him. “Uh?” 

“For anything.” He shoveled a fistful of popcorn into his mouth. 

“I’m… not sure what you should be apologizing for?” Kevin said quizzically. “Or not apologizing for?” 

“Archie told me,” Jughead said. He gave Kevin a wry look. 

Kevin threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “Oh my gosh, Archie Andrews! Literally the last thing I said was ‘don’t tell Jughead’!”

“Yeah, Archie’s not good at secrets.” 

“Understatement,” Kevin grumbled. He watched the flailing and yelling and inexplicably bright pink teachers in silence for a while. “I guess that’s a no, huh?”

“Sorry?” Jughead looked up from the remains of his popcorn. He’d been shaking the box a little sadly for the last thirty seconds or so. 

“You weren’t hitting on me?” 

Jughead looked genuinely blank for a second. “ _What?_ ” 

Kevin stared at him. “Wait. Wait, what did Archie actually _say_?” 

“That I should stop making you pay for my milkshakes because you didn’t like it.” Jughead stared into the middle distance for a moment, apparently recalling the conversation. “More or less.” 

“What? No, that’s not what I— I mean, I would absolutely be in favor of you buying your own milkshakes for a change, I’m not made of money —“ it was important to get that in there, “— But I wasn’t sure if…” Kevin shrugged awkwardly. “If you meant it, I guess.” 

“Meant what?” Jughead said, then paused. “Oh.” 

“Yeah.” Kevin was pretty sure he was bright red by now. 

“Oh shit,” Jughead said suddenly. “Can I get back to you on that?” He handed Kevin the remains of the popcorn, kicked his skateboard into position and disappeared down the hallway before enraged teachers reached them. 

* 

“I didn’t mean it,” Jughead said, as he slid into the booth. 

Kevin looked up from his math assignment. “Yeah, I figured. The total lack of a poker face when I asked sort of gave it away.” 

“But then I thought about it,” Jughead continued. 

“Okay?” 

“You wanted me to mean it.” A statement, not a question. 

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Jughead. “You’re not usually this cruel.” Machiavellian mastermind, yes, intentionally cruel, no.

Jughead shook his head. “That’s not what this is. I’m trying to say that you’d make a great Magic Mike or maybe a Caine Wise — I went on a bit of a binge watch while I was thinking,” he added explaining when Kevin stared at him. “Unimportant. The point is, you are extremely handsome, blue does look really good on you, your hair is usually pretty nice, and I do like you.” 

Kevin blinked.

“This is the part where you ask me out on a date,” Jughead said helpfully when Kevin just kept blinking at him. 

“Um. Sorry. I’m just a little confused. …Magic Mike?”

“Surprisingly entertaining movie,” Jughead nodded. 

“Okay. Is this a new way of getting me to buy all your milkshakes?” Kevin would not be surprised if it was. “Because you don’t have to date me for that. As you know by now.” 

“While I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t an expected bonus… No. I actually just like you. Did I get it wrong? Are you not interested in me like that?” 

“You know you didn’t get it wrong.”

“I only pretend to know everything, Keller,” Jughead said. 

Kevin squinted at him. That sounded very familiar. “…Black Widow?” 

Jughead grinned. 

“You don’t date though,” Kevin pointed out. 

“Haven’t wanted to before.” Jughead shrugged. “I want to now. Is it really a problem for you? That I haven’t?” 

“No! No, I’m just still surprised, I guess.” 

“Well, get over it.” Jughead stared at him, then sighed. “Do I have to do everything around here? Kevin Keller, would you go to the movies with me this Friday? I will pay half.” 

“Half?” 

“Look—“

“No, I mean, yes! Yes, absolutely. Movies sound great. Half is good.” Kevin realized he was babbling and shut his mouth. 

* 

“You’re going on a date with Jughead Jones. Like, I’m happy for you and everything, but I really don’t get it.” Sheila was sitting on his desk, helping him pick out an outfit. So far she’d thrown out six different shirts and two pair of pants. 

“I like how he looks when he’s happy,” Kevin said. That wasn’t all of it. Some of it was definitely that he was flattered by the attention, and he knew that, but a lot of it was because he genuinely did like Jughead. Jughead didn’t think the way most people did and that was interesting too. And while nobody would ever call Jughead a male model, Kevin liked how he looked. He looked like Jughead. Black hair, pointy nose, near constant slouch and all. It fit him. 

“Huh. Okay.” 

“Do you really think it’s weird?” Kevin wasn’t usually uncertain about much, but he did want the approval of his friends. Not so much so that he wouldn’t go on a date with Jughead if Sheila really disapproved, but… 

“Jughead dating? Kinda, yeah.” Sheila shrugged. “But hey, I’m not the one dating him. And, I mean, I still remember what a dick he used to be in middle school, and you don’t have that baggage, so. Like, he’s not nice now or anything, but he’s different.” 

Kevin sat down on his bed, rejected shirt balled up in his hands. He was fascinated. “He used to be more of a dick than he is now?” 

Sheila scrunched up her face. “No, I guess? He was a different — wait, did nobody tell you?” 

“Tell me what?” Sometimes small-town life was steeped in Secret de Polichinelle and Kevin found it equally fascinating and deeply frustrating. Sheila and Maria were good at filling him in and keeping him from making terrible missteps, but they couldn’t actually give him a lifetime’s worth of information on everybody in town. 

“The Joneses used to be hella rich. Like, not Lodge-rich, but not far off. Jughead was always rubbing people’s faces in it, with his butlers and birthday parties and shit.” Sheila grinned. “Okay, the birthday parties were amazing, but it was always like he was showing off, you know?” 

“Wow, what happened?” Kevin was certain that Jughead wasn’t rich now. If he’d been buying milkshakes for somebody whose weekly allowance resembled his college fund, he was definitely giving somebody a smack upside the head. Possibly himself for being stupid. 

Sheila shrugged, losing interest in favor of giving one of his remaining shirts a critical look. “I don’t know. One day he was a snotty rich kid, the next he was the way he is now. Hey, you should try this one.” 

* 

“Hi Betty, Jughead,” Kevin said. 

“Just here for moral support!” Betty said. Her hair was in a bun again, and she was dressed very casually, even for her. Kevin though that might be engine grease on her pants. She grinned. “Jughead didn’t think you were gonna show.” 

Kevin raised his eyebrows at Jughead, who shrugged back. “Well, I’m here now.” 

“Which is great, so I’m gonna go… over there.” She pointed vaguely towards the exit and walked off, grinning. 

“You look good,” Jughead said. He had his hands jammed in his jeans pockets. “That’s a nice shirt.” 

“You too.” Jughead had at least found a new pair of pants to put on, which was frankly more effort from him than Kevin had expected. 

“Thanks.” 

They stared awkwardly at each other.

“So. Um. Tickets?” Kevin suggested.

“Tickets,” Jughead agreed. They made their way over to the ticket counter and waited in line. Kevin recognized a couple of their classmates ahead of them in line, and a middle-aged couple joined the queue after them. “So, uh, what movie do you want to see?” 

“I don’t know, you asked me,” Kevin pointed out. He’d never seen Jughead flush in embarrassment before. It was kind of cute. Not that he intended to say that; he didn’t want Jughead to run away. “I’m good with whatever, honestly.” 

Jughead looked up at the movie titles. After a moment he suggested one of the newest comedies and Kevin shrugged and nodded. 

It wasn’t that different from any other time Kevin had been to the movies with Jughead, except none of their other friends were there, and Jughead offered to share his gigantic popcorn. Usually he horded his snacks jealously and left everybody else to fend for themselves. 

*

Kevin spent the last ten minutes of the movie working up to it, so when he grabbed Jughead’s hand as they left the cinema and Jughead didn’t shake him off, his grin was definitely a little too big. “So what’s next?” 

“Life is a wonderful mystery, and you should be open to exploring more of it,” Jughead said solemnly. He kicked an empty coke can out of the way, watching it roll into the gutter. 

Kevin gave him a sideways look. “You have nothing, do you?”

Jughead sighed. “I have nothing.” 

“Did you really think I was going to stand you up?” He’d been wanting to ask that for a while. It just seemed very uncharacteristic of Jughead. He’d been willing to bet that nothing worried Jughead much, especially nothing as silly as a movie date. He looked over at him when Jughead took his time answering. 

“No,” Jughead said finally. He tilted his head back, looking up at the clear skies, and definitely avoiding Kevin’s gaze. “No, not really. You’re way too nice. Weird, but nice.” 

“ _I’m_ weird?” 

Jughead looked at him then, grinning at whatever expression Kevin was making. “Hey, you want to date me, that’s weird enough on its own.” 

“You’re the one who started telling me I’m pretty,” Kevin protested, blushing. 

“Handsome,” Jughead corrected. 

“I’m secure enough in my masculinity to live with pretty as a compliment,” Kevin said. “For future reference.” 

Jughead snorted. “I’ll keep it in mind. Uh, can I have my hand back now?” 

Kevin tightened his grip reflexively before letting go of Jughead’s hand. “Sorry.” 

Jughead tucked his hands into his jacket pockets. “It’s fine.” 

They kept walking down the street. Kevin was pretty certain they were heading for the park, but in any case he was willing to go with whatever Jughead had in mind. It was still pretty early, and on a weekend his parents didn’t expect him until midnight. Knowing his parents, they’d probably be disappointed if he came home earlier. 

“Stupid question, but…” 

“Yeah?”

“What’s your first name?” 

“Forsythe,” Jughead said. There was an amused twist to his lip as he continued. “Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third, actually.” 

“Forsythe.” 

“Yep.”

“Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third,” Kevin repeated. He honestly couldn’t tell whether Jughead was messing with him or not. 

“At your service,” Jughead nodded. He was definitely amused now. “I’d show you my drivers license, but I haven’t actually got one.” 

“The third.” Kevin wasn’t quite over that yet. “Wait, is this related to you apparently having a butler?” 

“Who told you that?” Jughead looked more annoyed than amused now, but after a moment he shrugged. “That was years ago, anyway. I live a butler-free existence, right now, which suits me fine. But, yeah, we did have a butler when I was a kid.”

“What happened? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Kevin added. He did feel a little like he was prying into Jughead’s personal business. 

Jughead sighed and kicked at a random convenient-for-kicking stone. “Dad made a bad investment. But it’s not like we’re poor or anything now. It’s just…”

“No butlers?”

“No butlers.” 

They walked into the park. It was starting to snow. Just thin flakes that melted as soon as they hit skin, but there would be a heavier snowfall later. It was still only November, but they’d told him last year that in Riverdale, it always snowed at Christmas. Always. 

“So, Jughead,” Kevin started, and Jughead laughed. “It’s weird! I can’t call you Forsythe! I’m sorry! It’s weird!” 

“Only my parents call me Forsythe. Jughead is fine.” Jughead was grinning and it made Kevin’s heart do weird things. 

“Okay, good.” Kevin grinned back, helpless to stop himself. “I just wanted to ask you…” 

Jughead tilted his head, looking expectant. He tended to walk slightly hunched over, but when he straightened, he was nearly as tall as Kevin. “Hm?”

“Do you mind the hand holding?”

“No.” 

Kevin glanced over. “But?”

“I’m not hugely into… People. Or touching. In general.” Jughead shrugged. “But it’s okay. As long as it’s not all the time.” Jughead glanced over at him. He looked a little amused still, but there was a flush of red high on his cheeks. “Kisses would be okay, too, I guess.” 

“I have no objection to kisses,” Kevin said, grinning.

“All right then.” Jughead eyed him expectantly, hands still jammed in his pockets. 

Kevin blinked back. He looked around. There was a woman walking her dog in the distance, but other than that they were alone in this corner of the park. Okay. Okay, he could do this. He took a step closer, placed a hand on Jughead’s chin to tilt his mouth up, and pressed their lips together briefly. He pulled back, blushing furiously. It had honestly been too brief for anything but a sensation of lips meeting, but he was still weirdly proud he’d done it.

At least until he met Jughead’s laughing eyes. He wasn’t actually laughing out loud at him, but his eyes were definitely dancing with mirth. 

“What?” It wasn’t physically possible for Kevin to turn any redder. 

“Really, Keller? That’s it?” 

“Um.” 

Jughead pulled his hands out of his pockets and copied what Kevin had done, long fingers gentle on his jaw. “All my tv watching experience and all my romance gaming tells me that a kiss should definitely last longer than 0.5 seconds,” he said. 

“Romance gaming?” Kevin said weakly. 

“And tv watching,” Jughead agreed, lips curving into a smile. Then he was leaning in and — oh. Oh, this was better. Jughead was inviting him in, daring him to respond, teasing him until he did. Low level teasing seemed to be an essential part of Jughead’s personality. Kevin couldn’t really say he minded. 

This time when he pulled back, Jughead was flushing too. He was still smiling, but the slight mocking was gone, Kevin was gratified to note. 

“Okay?” 

Jughead nodded. Kevin wouldn’t mind kissing some more, but he was starting to recognize the signs of Jughead needing some space, so instead he stepped away. At least he could be sure that Jughead wasn’t doing anything he didn’t want to. 

They started walking through the park again. 

“Maybe we—“ Kevin started, only to cut himself off and try again. “I had a good time tonight.” 

Jughead gave him a sideways look and hummed in agreement. 

“Want to do it again?” He really shouldn’t be as nervous as he was asking that. He held his breath anyway. 

Jughead tilted his head to the side, considering it. “Netflix and chill?” he said finally, sly grin teasing him. 

Kevin snorted. “I was thinking milkshakes and the arcade, actually.” 

“Yeah, all right.” 

Kevin had a silly grin on his face all the way home after that.


End file.
